Mental health problems are a growing public concern around the world. Stress, anxiety and depression can significantly influence a person’s health and quality of life. Persuasive technologies can motivate people to adopt and maintain behaviours which are beneficial to their wellbeing, and could provide novel solutions for preventing and ameliorating symptoms of mental health problems. The PeTMeW workshop will bring together a diverse group of experts interested in persuasive interventions for mental health and wellbeing, to discuss, exchange ideas, and reflect on the key challenges and opportunities in this emerging field.
Call for Papers
There is a growing interest in persuasive technologies developed to motivate healthy behaviours, such as encouraging physical activity and balanced nutrition. Moreover, recent work has shown that digital persuasive interventions can improve wellbeing when motivating engagement in positive activities, such as performing acts of generosity or showing gratitude to others. However, there are still numerous unexplored challenges pertaining to designing, implementing, and evaluating persuasive technologies for mental health, as well as improving user engagement and adherence to interventions. The PeTMeW workshop will focus on persuasive interventions which encourage people to adopt and maintain behaviours and attitudes that are beneficial for their mental health and wellbeing. The workshop will invite researchers, designers and digital health care experts to discuss theoretical and practical considerations and directions for innovation in persuasive technology for mental wellbeing.
Topics of Interest
Submissions are invited on all aspects of Persuasive Technology for Mental Health and Wellbeing. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Design, implementation, or evaluation methods of persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- Applications of persuasive interventions for mental health and wellbeing
- User studies and experiments investigating the outcomes of the interventions
- Long term evaluations and effects of persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- Frameworks and models for developing persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- User-centered design and evaluation methodologies for persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- Personalisation of persuasive technologies and strategies for mental health and wellbeing
- Modelling attitudes, behaviour and user characteristics for persuasion
- Influence of demographics and cultural differences on persuasion
- Gamification in persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- Challenges of developing persuasive technologies for mental health and wellbeing
- Ethical issues of persuasive interventions for mental health and wellbeing
- Privacy and trust issues in persuasive interventions for mental health and wellbeing
Submissions
We invite full research papers (6-12 pages) containing novel unpublished research results, and short papers (2-6 pages), including position papers, demos, and works in progress. The submissions have to be formatted according to the Springer LNCS format. Submissions do not need to be blinded.
Schedule
Venue: To be confirmed
The workshop will take place as a interactive session. Reflection and active discussion will be encouraged during the workshop. The session will feature a talk from a keynote speaker, followed by paper presentations, networking session and
group discussion to conclude the event.
Preliminary Workshop Schedule
09:00 – Introduction and Welcome
09:30 – Keynote Speaker
10:30 – Coffee Break
11:00 – Paper and Discussion Session 1
12:30 – Lunch
14:00 – Networking session
14:30 – Paper and Discussion Session 2
16:00 – Discussion and Wrap-up
Programme Committee
- Floriana Grasso
- Jaap Ham
- Robert Jan Beun
- Luca Chittaro
- Silvia Gabrielli
- Kirsikka Kaipainen
- John Paul Vargheese
- David Coyle
Organisers
Ana Ciocarlan is a PhD student at the University of Aberdeen, researching personalisation and persuasive technologies to improve subjective wellbeing. Her work focuses on designing an adaptive persuasive intervention that encourages people to perform more acts of kindness. She has previously co-organized the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance PhD conference.
Kirsten Smith is a Research fellow at the University of Southampton, working on the digital behaviour change interventions for e.g. lifestyle changes after cancer treatment, preventing cognitive decline in older adults and training GPs in empathy to improve the wellbeing of patients. She has previously co-organized a workshop on personalization for e-health at the UMAP conference.
Nir Oren is a Reader at University of Aberdeen, UK. He is an expert on reasoning within complex domains, with interests in argumentation and persuasive technologies. His research investigates both the theoretical and practical aspects of argumentation, as well as using argumentation in the persuasive technology domain.
Judith Masthoff is a professor at Utrecht University and the University of Aberdeen. She is Editor-in-Chief of the User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction journal and associate editor of the AI for Human Learning and Behavior Change journal. She has an extensive track record in personalized digital behaviour interventions and led tutorials on this topic at international conferences.
Persuasive Technology for Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshop 